Saturday, 18 August 2012

There are a number of pertinent issues in Rugby League in
Australia today that are the result of over a decade of self-interest by the
NRL.

A lot of these can be quickly and easily addressed and
rectified immediately through the implementation of a smarter draw.

What the NRL needs to do is look back at what the NSWRL,
ARL and dare I say it, even Superleague did.

They looked beyond the local stage.

They knew that by spreading the game as far as possible
on as big a stage as possible, the game would grow quickly and a plethora of
new talent would be uncovered, heralding in a magnificent new generation of
players from all around the world.

One of the issues we currently face is on the international
scene. A lot of smaller, less established rugby league nations are struggling,
let alone improving. Player eligibility laws are a big part of the problem.
They need to be rolled back to much clearer and tighter guidelines. My plan
would be something along the lines of:

*You play for the country you were born in.

*If you are born in Australia, New Zealand or England and
have ancestory (only as far back as your grandparents) linking you to a smaller
nation, you can choose one country to represent. Once you make your decision,
it cannot be overturned, unless you become a legal citizen of another country
you wish to represent.

That’s it!

People born in other countries will not be eligible to
play Origin. However, I believe if smaller nations in our hemisphere were to
get more opportunities to represent their own country on a big stage, this
could ultimately see a lot of talented individuals consider representing their
birth country instead, which would in turn, help the game globally.

This leads me to my next point. International Rugby
League. Australia is surrounded by a host of small island nations that are
absolutely brimming with talent and enthusiasm to play the game. We should do
all we can to nurture and encourage this growth. Presently Australia and to a
much lesser degree, New Zealand, are taking the great players from these
nations and making them play for Australia and New Zealand, depriving the
smaller nations of a rep player.

Also, these smaller nations simply don’t get enough
exposure or opportunity to see their game grow. The NRL has a magnificent
opportunity to inject a huge amount of focus immediately into these nations
which would see an explosion of more great talent enter our game.

Another issue for many years recently has been players
concerns about the season being too long, especially for representative
players. The NSWRL had a very good system in place many decades ago and its
time that should also be revisited. It included a ‘Country Week’ whereby the
competition stopped for a few weeks and the Sydney clubs went and played Bush
teams.

The NRL’s birth has seen a drop of interest by the games
governing body in Australia in bush footy. Playing a few trial games and a
representative fixture that many want to be rid of, as the only big games
played in rural Australia simply isn’t good enough.

For years now Rugby League has been growing its viewers,
crowd figures and revenue but the Country has been left behind and rival codes
have started swooping in.

So now, I move onto the draw. When players complained a
few years ago about the season being too long, the NRL responded by throwing
more bye rounds into the draw. This didn’t actually shorten the season. It
intentionally made it longer in a vein attempt to appease the players, but
ultimately it was done to try and rake in more revenue by having a longer
season.

It’s high time the players were listened too.

So here’s my draw, which is fairer to rep teams and rep
players. It will allow all teams to be unaffected by rep duties while ensuring
the standard of games are improved over the course of the season and giving the
players enough rest time after rep fixtures and their club games.

Each team will play each other once (a team they play at
home in 2013, they will play at the oppositions home the following year). After
those 15 Rounds have completed, the teams that finished in the top 8 the
previous year will play each other again. The teams that were in the bottom 8
the previous year will play each other again. That comes to a total of 22
games. 2 less than in the current system, which would appease the players, as
well as providing better quality games over the course of the entire year.

Pre-Season Trials –
Weeks 1 and 2 – NRL teams play against Country teams and Oceania island
teams. Each NRL team must play at least once in these two weeks.

Pre-Season Trials –
Weeks 3 and 4 – NRL teams play each other in Country and Oceania regions.
Each NRL team must play at least once in these two weeks.

Year 1 – Australia
tours Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji and Cook Islands, playing no more
than 10 games. 2 squads of 17 players are to be used for these games. Matches
against above nations to be given Test status.

New Zealand tours France, Wales, Scotland, Ireland,
Lebanon and Italy, playing no more than 10 games. 2 squads of 17 players are to
be used for these games. Matches against above nations to be given Test status.

Year 2 – Four Nations
Tournament – Have two of these tournaments running at the same time and in
the same country. Four Nations Tournament 1 comprises of Australia, New
Zealand, England and the team ranked 4th at the time. The Other
tournament to include the highest available ranked team in Europe and in
Oceania, as well as the USA. The final spot to be filled by the next highest
ranked available team.

Year 3 – New Zealand
tours Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji and Cook Islands, playing no more
than 10 games. 2 squads of 17 players are to be used for these games. Matches
against above nations to be given Test status.

Australia tours France, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Lebanon
and Italy, playing no more than 10 games. 2 squads of 17 players are to be used
for these games. Matches against above nations to be given Test status.

Year 4 – World Cup
– Looking to having an entire competition being played in USA.

All games listed above are to be shown live on Free-to-Air
television. 8 NRL games are to be played in Country Australia, that way every
team plays in Country Australia once every year.

The NRL Season, including finals and Rep Weekends alone is
one week shorter than what we currently have. However there is more time
between rep games, with more players being involved in rep fixtures, making
each club more involved in promoting the game outside of the NRL.

Less games for the players, more involvement outside
their club, big promotion of the game outside of its local area,

This seems like a big project and many will deem it too
complicated or make up some other excuses as to why it shouldn’t be implement.
Some of those reasons are likely to be quite valid, but the main thing is, this
draw helps improve grassroots Rugby League, International Rugby League, the players,
match quality, unearthing more great talent, attracting new sponsors and the
generation of revenue for the game locally and internationally.

With smaller nations getting greater exposure, their
native players will be more inclined to represent their country, instead of
switching allegiances which essentially leaves their national teams
languishing.

Also, a greater focus on Country Rugby League will help
push away the risk of losing grassroots players and clubs to rival codes. It
would be so effective, that it could essentially force some codes to retreat
from their current expansion plans, which is again, great news for the game.

We need to start looking at strengthening the game
outside the NRL itself. A strong international game means a strong local game.